Mobile Phones iPhone & iOS iPhone Flashlight Not Working? Try These Fixes Get back into the light by Simon Chandler Writer Simon Chandler is a former Lifewire writer who covered cryptocurrency, social media, AI and other topics. His work has appeared in Wired, TechCrunch, and The Verge. our editorial process Twitter LinkedIn Simon Chandler Updated on May 25, 2020 iPhone & iOS Switching from Android Tweet Share Email The iPhone has a flashlight that comes in handy when you need a quick and convenient light source, although it can sometimes fail to work. If your iPhone's flashlight icon is greyed out and inaccessible, or the flashlight does not work, there are a few things you can try to get it working again. Instructions in this article apply to all iPhone models. John Moore / Getty Images How to Fix iPhone Flashlight Not Working There are several reasons why the iPhone flashlight function may not be working. Usually, a software bug or glitch causes the feature to malfunction. Other times the exact cause only reveals itself with the corresponding fix. Follow these steps in the order listed to troubleshoot an iPhone flashlight that's not working. Close the Camera app. Having the Camera app on may create a conflict between the camera's flash and the flashlight, since these both use the same bulb and, therefore, cannot be used at the same time. Restart the iPhone. Many software problems and bugs can be fixed by simply restarting the device. This effectively resets some of the temporary settings that cause apps and features to malfunction. Perform a hard reset. A basic restart sometimes isn't enough to fix a problem. In some cases, you may need to do what's known as a hard reset, which is essentially a more powerful reset. Reset the iPhone settings. This process is not as dramatic as it sounds, as it doesn't erase your personal data or apps. Rather, it resets the iPhone to its default settings, something which may get the flashlight icon (and the flashlight) working again. Erasing the iPhone settings may delete your wallpaper. Restore the iPhone to a previous backup. Restoring an iPhone from a backup is a relatively easy way to repair lost or corrupted data, which may be the reason the flashlight feature is not working. Restore the iPhone to factory settings. This is a more extreme, time-consuming solution that should resolve a faulty flashlight feature. If not, you are almost certainly dealing with a hardware problem. A factory reset deletes the data on your iPhone, so it is critical that you back up your data before performing a factory reset. What to Do if the iPhone Flashlight Isn't Working Some users may find that the flashlight does not turn on, even when its button is lit up as normal. This is a hardware problem, so you need to contact Apple or take the phone to a licensed repair outlet. If your iPhone is still under warranty, you should be able to have it repaired for free. It's best not to attempt to fix the flashlight yourself since doing so could invalidate any warranty you have on the phone. It may also risk worsening the problem.